Contents:
- 2 Walk and Cycle conference 2014
- Tune in to road safety this Road Safety Week
- Big rise in Wellingtonians cycling and walking
- NZ 'slow to reduce speeds, to the detriment of road safety'
- Save the world, cycle more, says climate change panel
- Four reasons US business leaders want to import Danish-style cycling
- How Hamburg is taking cars off the road
- Fresh approach urged on transport priorities
- Cycling, health and safety
- French cyclists to get paid for biking to work?
- Weblinks
2 Walk and Cycle conference 2014
The next "2 Walk and Cycle" walking and cycling conference will be held in Nelson, 29-31 October 2014. A call for presentations has been issued- deadline for submissions is 16 May:
http://www.2walkandcycle.org.nz/presenters/abstracts
"Communities on the move" will showcase how walking and cycling contributes to a strong, healthy and fun place to live. It is very much about creating community, through residents being in the public realm walking and cycling and really being part of the fabric of their community. Nelson itself is a living New Zealand example of this.
More information at the conference website:
http://www.2walkandcycle.org.nz/
Tune in to road safety this Road Safety Week
Road Safety Week 2014 takes place 19-26 May, and Brake, the road safety charity organising it, is urging everyone to 'tune in' to road safety and give the road their full attention. The theme for the week focuses on distractions, particularly if we're at the wheel, but also when we're out cycling, walking, skating- you name it! We're all human, we daydream, get side-tracked, make mistakes. But on roads, distractions can be fatal.
Brake, along with Road Safety Week sponsors QBE Insurance, are encouraging organisations and individuals to take part in the event. It's free to get involved, and when you sign up you receive an e-action pack with downloadable posters, web banners and other resources, as well as ideas for activities. You can register for the week here, and find activity ideas here.
If you're a driver, please also take part in this quick, anonymous survey on driver distractions which will help to inform Brake's media work.
CAN is also supporting Road Safety Week. Chairperson Graeme Lindup says, "New Zealanders love to ride bikes, with more than 1.5 million of us cycling regularly. We can all play our part in preventing crashes, by staying focused while driving or cycling. That means keeping speeds under control, leaving the phone switched off, and taking extra care at intersections to look out for each other."
For more information on Road Safety Week please go to http://www.brake.org.nz/roadsafetyweek.
Big rise in Wellingtonians cycling and walking
10 March 2014- Census data just released shows what is increasingly obvious on Wellington City streets - an ever growing number of Wellingtonians are walking or cycling to work.
The 2013 data shows a big increase in the numbers of Wellington City residents cycling to work - up by 73 percent on 2006 - and a 3 percent drop in the number of people travelling by car.
Mayor Celia Wade-Brown says the figures show a significant increase in people choosing to cycle to work.
"These results give some muscle to the Council's proposal to boost funding for cycling improvements," she says.
Read more here:
http://www.voxy.co.nz/lifestyle/big-rise-wellingtonians-cycling-and-walking/5/184021
NZ 'slow to reduce speeds, to the detriment of road safety'
23 March 2014- New Zealand has been slow to reduce traffic speeds in cities, to the detriment of its road safety record, particularly for walking and cycling, a University of Canterbury (UC) transport expert says.
Dr Glen Koorey, a member of the New Zealand Transport Agency panel on cycle safety, says speed is the main safety issue facing the country's road toll.
Dr Koorey, a UC transport engineering lecturer, addressed the Automobile Association national conference in New Plymouth this week today about cycling and highlighted the role that speed management plays in providing for safer cycling.
To help identify patterns in New Zealand crashes, Dr Koorey has produced a report on common patterns in cycling fatalities. From crash records and reports, more than 90 cycling fatalities were identified between 2006 and 2013.
Providing lower speed environments was directly identified as being a key preventative factor in only 11 percent of the fatalities. However, Dr Koorey found the survivability of virtually all cycling fatalities would be greatly improved if lower impact speeds were present.
Read more here:
http://www.voxy.co.nz/national/nz-slow-reduce-speeds-detriment-road-safety/5/185420
Save the world, cycle more, says climate change panel
13 April 2014- Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issues wake up call to the world: reduce energy use, walk and cycle more.
The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has issued a practical guide for what the world can do to reduce the impacts of climate change. Among the densely scientific recommendations are calls for Governments to reduce reliance on individualised motor transport and, instead, prioritise walking, cycling and public transport. Not only would such measures be good for the planet they would also make sound economic sense, said the panel of the world's leading environmental scientists.
"Prioritizing infrastructure for pedestrians and integrating non-motorized and transit services can create economic and social co-benefits in all regions", says the report.
Read more here:
http://www.bikebiz.com/news/read/save-the-world-cycle-more-says-climate-change-panel
Four reasons US business leaders want to import Danish-style cycling
4 February 2014- Cities are driving the US economic recovery, and as they do, Americans are getting on their bikes. In 85 of the 100 largest metro areas cycling is increasing. All part of a deeply healthy - and profitable - reshaping of urban economies.
"Cities that invest in biking infrastructure are going to win," predicts Jeff Judge, a Chicago-based digital marketing entrepreneur, who said the presence of on-street protected bike lanes was his number-one factor in assessing a city to locate in. "It's better for business, planning, infrastructure. It's better all round."
Read more here:
http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/reasons-business-leaders-danish-style-cycling
How Hamburg is taking cars off the road
15 January 2014- For a country which prides itself on having given the world the Mercedes and the Autobahn, it represents a major ideological U-turn: Hamburg, Germany's second largest city, is planning to drastically to reduce the number of cars from its centre over the next 20 years and put thousands of commuters on bikes.
Under an audacious urban development scheme named "Green Network", all vehicles will be verboten in significant swathes of the city by 2034. Instead people will move about the port city, either via public transport or on foot or bicycle along a series of idyllic green thoroughfares which are now being painstakingly created.
Hamburg's planned Green Network will cover some 40 per cent of the city's entire area and will connect parks, recreational areas, playgrounds cemeteries and gardens with a comprehensive network of green paths. "Cities like London have a green belt, but the Green Network will be unique in covering an area from the outskirts to the city centre," Ms Fritsch insists. "In 15 to 20 years it will be possible to explore the city exclusively by bike or on foot," she added.
Read more here:
Fresh approach urged on transport priorities
5 March 2014- Australian State Government funding into transport infrastructure needs to be turned on its head if Perth is to avoid congestion mayhem in the coming years, experts have warned.
Trevor Shilton, director of cardiovascular health at the Heart Foundation, said the current model of funding needed to be flipped upside down.
"Instead of spending money firstly on roads, then public transport, cycling and walking we need to see governments spend in the opposite order - walking, cycling, public transport and then roads," he said.
"We also need to build and design our cities and suburbs to reflect these priorities.
Read more here:
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/latest/a/21826146/fresh-approach-urged-on-transport-priorities/
Cycling, health and safety
The health benefits to society from cycling outweigh negative impacts by up to a factor of 20, according to the final research report "Cycling, Health and Safety" from the International Transport Forum Working Group on Cycling Safety. The report, published at a time when many cities are seeking to increase the share of cycling amidst concerns for safety, shows that the key to delivering overall benefits from cycling is creating a safe system through government policy and city action.
Read more here:
http://internationaltransportforum.org/jtrc/safety/cycling.html
French cyclists to get paid for biking to work?
5 March 2014- French cyclists could soon be paid to cycle to work, under a new plan to boost cycling, get people fitter, save on health spending and perhaps create more jobs.
Transport Minister Frederic Cuvillier is announcing the plan today, with proposals for volunteer companies to test out a system of reimbursing employees between 21 and 25 centimes per kilometre, as a travel perk in return for possible social charge exemptions.
Just 5% of employees would be affected, but Mr Cuvillier wants to see if this can be doubled, with other measures to make cycling safer and more widespread.
Read more here:
Weblinks
Transport Connections for Liveable Communities: this year's Trafinz conference will be held in Auckland, 14-17 September:
http://trafinz.org.nz/conferences/2014/
Bicycle Touring Photography: a free e-book providing a quick guide to taking better pictures:
http://pauljeurissen.zenfolio.com/photo-tip-book
Bicycle poetry: Spokes, and anthology of poems about bicycles and cycling:
http://otleywordfeast.org.uk/spokes/
Dutch-style intersections:
Baxter and the 5-minute rule: Alastair Smith blogs about the pre-CAN Do two-day tour down the Whanganui River Road:
http://alastairgsmith.blogspot.co.nz/2014/04/baxter-and-five-minute-rule-whanganui.html
Urban bicycling is for lazy people:
http://www.theurbancountry.com/2013/06/bicycling-is-for-lazy-people.html
Bikes in preschools:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chtcf7MhtiM
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About CAN
Cycling Advocates' Network (CAN) is New Zealand's voice for cyclists. We want to see cycling become an everyday activity in NZ. CAN's membership includes experienced cyclists, advocates, engineers, planners, local and regional councils, bike shops, and local advocacy groups throughout the country.
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